Antigua's Financial Scandal - Leroy King Suspended

June 22, 2009 | News Category: Casino Banking

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Since the Allen Stanford financial scandal was uncovered on Antigua, investigations into the situation have been underway. Recently, Leroy King, the head of the Antigua and Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission, has been suspended.

King, who was responsible for auditing Stanford's bank has been accused of accepting bribes to the tune of thousands of dollars in order to turn a blind eye to any irregularities that were found. It seems that audits that were done in order to keep a check on Stanford's bank were simply done for appearances. United States investigators discovered the funds that had been transferred into a number of US held bank accounts in King's name.

Leroy King had a role as the chief executive of the Antigua and Barbuda Financial Services Regulatory Commission, which is the same body that governs and regulates online casinos that are based out of Antigua and Barbuda, the Directorate of Offshore Gaming in Antigua. This has thrown the good reputation of Antiguan-based online gambling operators into question. While the gambling operators themselves may be honest and above question, one does worry when the regulating body is exposed as corrupt at its core.

Justin Simon, the Attorney General of Antigua acknowledges the potential damage this situation can do to Antigua as an online gambling licensing authority. Simon said "Antigua and Barbuda's offshore business activities are once again placed under intense international scrutiny, and this will clearly have adverse effects on the economy and raise questions about our regulatory legal framework."

Simon continued to say that an intensive internal investigation has been conducted into the system's failures, and also into Leroy King's activities. The Cabinet of Antigua has yet to decide what action they will take against King. King has been suspended since March pending the results of the investigation.

Since the US only recently turned up his connection to the Stanford scandal, and King holds both US and Antiguan citizenship, Simon has said that the Antiguan government may comply with the US request to extradite King and allow him to be tried in the United States. However, Simon noted that the Antiguan government is conducting their own independent investigation into the actions of King and others. King may well be prosecuted in both Antigua and the US.

It also seems that King did not operate alone, and was joined by two company accountants. King was unavailable for comment at this time, but one wonders what was going through his mind when he stated in February "I am absolutely sure that my banking system is clean."